Does the fourth hold up to the original movies?

I personally LOVE the “Kung Fu Panda” series.  The first movie was a great introduction to the story with awesome visual animation. Along with the great storytelling of the first chapter of the series and amazing voice acting to go along with it. The voices really match the characters.

However, “Kung Fu Panda 4” is not what I expected it to be. There was so much potential for the fourth movie but, as a “Kung Fu Panda” fan, it was not what I hoped it would be. 

The movie is very fast-paced with a somewhat humorous story, reminiscent of “Thor: Love and Thunder.”

Po, the main character,  is chosen to become the spiritual leader of the Valley of Peace and must choose a successor as the future dragon warrior. I think that concept is a good idea for a film because each of the movies has something about learning a life lesson and this is a good one about change. However, the movie doesn’t put much effort into this idea.

Also, the Furious Five: Mantis, Tigress, Crane, Viper and Monkey aren’t even in this movie until the very end of the film. They don’t even speak. The villain of the film, the Chameleon, doesn’t feel serious enough to be a threat to Po. The old villains do return, like General Kai, Tai Lung and Lord Shen. However, they don’t play a serious role in the movie. Tai Lung also seems like a different character from the last time we saw him. He’s just not the same. 

Jacob Hernandez ‘27 said,  “I think it’s a disgrace to the original movies to be honest. It literally doesn’t even have the Furious Five in it at all because it couldn’t afford the actors. I think they should have ended it off with the third one.”

Ian McShane is back as Tai Lung and it was absolutely amazing to hear and see the character return to the franchise. Jack Black is back as Po the panda and he is just as funny as he was in the other movies. Dustin Hoffman is also back as Shifu but his character seems a bit more hot headed than in his previous appearances. James Hong is just as awesome as he was before, playing Mr. Ping. Also, the one and only Bryan Cranston returns as Po’s real father, Li Shan. Li Shan and Mr. Ping have a good dynamic and make great and hilarious moments together. Plus, we have Awkwafina playing a new character called Zhen. They are all amazing actors together.

Noye Lopez ‘25 said, “I think it could have been better. You know, there are some aspects I watched and I was like maybe they could have touched more on that”.

 I think the Chameleon’s base looks really cool and awesome, seems very ancient and Aztec inspired. The animation feels brand new when compared to the older and more realistic version of the older films but at the same time, it also seems kind of cheap. However, it’s understandable since this film had a budget of only $80 million, making it the lowest budget movie of the entire franchise.

As a conclusion, I’m sad to say that although the movie is a decent film to watch, it’s bad at being a “Kung Fu Panda” film.